Doral will soon be home to a new Tesla Motors electric vehicle service and sales center.
Telsa will occupy and modify a 5.3-acre lot at 9950 NW 25th St. that has a 78,000-square-foot building already in place.
Rendering of new Tesla Motors electric vehicle service and sales center in Doral
“The land use is categorized as industrial commercial and the project is consistent with the city’s Comprehensive Plan and the land Development Code,” said Julian Perez, Doral’s planning and zoning director, during the Aug. 23 zoning meeting. “This property is consistent with our concept because of the comprehensive plan as well as our land use. Some of the unique features of this project in terms of promoting a better site design is the amount of landscaping and an open space around the property. This project also does a very good job in terms of setting aside a number of parking spaces for electric vehicle charging stations.”
The proposed Telsa service center also did a good job in trying to integrate with all the surrounding areas, Mr. Perez added, especially the residential areas, and being very sensitive to the type of improvements that are made.
“And not only are the improvements environmentally sensitive, but also they’re compatible with all of the uses surrounding the property in terms of property value,” Perez said. “The project doesn’t really have any impact when it comes to the surrounding areas. Conditions were added to the development agreement and Telsa was very receptive to those conditions and to making sure that they have a safe facility, through the county’s fire marshal approval, because it’s not only about protecting the workers but also protecting the residents in the community.”
A traffic study by city staff indicated that the building would generate an estimated 435 daily trips, with 22 of them during the morning peak hours and 42 during the afternoon peak hours.
“The impacts from a transportation perspective are not very serious,” Perez said.
‘Tesla, which is leasing the lot, has also agreed to upgrade the site with new landscape buffers, extra green areas, additional landscaping, landscape islands and enhance pavement throughout parts of the area and new asphalt for the large open areas,’ said Jeff Crew, a principal from Stantec, the firm that designed the proposed project. “One of the important things that came up during the design process was coordination with this school (Carlos Albizu University-Miami) across the street and we have had coordinated communication with them, and everybody seems okay with the operations.”
After their last presentation, upgrades were made due to comments from the public wanting a nicer view from the east side of the property and likewise from the rear facing the operating parking lot and to the west, Mr. Cruz added.
“Tesla is bringing in a screen wall of a much more modern material to cover some of that glass to give it a much more modern look and generally updating the entire frontage,” Cruz said. “One of the things that distinguishes Tesla is this is not your typical garage because there’s no fuel, there’s no gasoline, there’s no transmission fluid, there’s no motor oil. It’s a very clean facility, very much more like a laboratory than a than a typical service station.”
“This is an excellent design and I think will really be appreciated in our community,” said Mayor Christi Fraga, “and I want to thank you for incorporating comments by the members of the public. They were extremely valid and very appreciative that that was taken care of because it was a concern for them.”
